A Thorn In His Side
by sineapple
Summary: The Doctor. Always alone. But always strong, puts the thoughts of all his former companions inside a box and tucks it away deep inside his mind. He misses them though, Oh! Indeed he does. It's been too quiet...   FULL SUMMARY INSIDE!
1. Realization

**((I do not, in any way, own Doctor Who... It would be obvious if I did because I'd make Martha never appear and Donna to remember the Doctor. But noo… I have to make the FanFictions and can only dream. ;`~; ))**

**Summary:**** The Doctor. Always alone. But always strong, puts the thoughts of all his former companions inside a box and tucks it away deep inside his mind. He misses them though, Oh! Indeed he does. Without them, it's been too quiet. However, what happens when the silence is broken? How is the silence even broken?  
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**Back story:**** Takes place right after Journey's End. No River Song, sadly for all those who support her. I will warn you that this is definitely a Doctor/Rose FanFic. No, Slash OCs, major OOC-ness, lemons, etc. If I do decide to actually make lemons though, I'll be sure to change it to 'M.' Oh! And the lemons shall be sweet. *rubs hands together* ;D Ahh~ There will be some shocking character deaths, characters brought back, characters made up. Mmm…That's about it. Carry on reading! **

_**Chapter 1: Realization**_

Forever. Does such a thing exist?

Ancient. Yeah, sure. The Face of Bo, Captain Jack! He proves the point quite clearly. _(So do I, might I add. After all, Being 904, soon 905.)_

But the question hangs around my head, bugging me a bit.

Does Forever truly exist?

'_Nahhh…' _ Automatically the answer pops into my mind.

I sniff. Forever wasn't logically possible.

Then again, half of the things I do don't seem logically possible to humans.

Aliens, time-traveling, space ships, planets…

Something I was so comfortable with, it… Just couldn't be logical to humans.

I sniff again. At least for another few hundred years.

. . .

Forever though.

So immense. So vast. So…Endless.

Forever was an empty promise.

I shake my head.

And this… This is where my hoo-diggory cla-figglory logic comes in.

I went to the end of the universe before. That's when I reunited with… The Master. _(The near thought of him leaves a vile, yet nostalgic taste in my mouth.)_

So, who says that forever can't also end?

Shaking my head again, I press some random buttons, making the TARDIS shake.

"Ready to go?" Smiling, I say aloud. It turns into a deep frown though and I get disheartened when I remember there was no Donna. No Martha. No Rose. No Sarah. No...Nobody tagging along for another new adventure. They're all gone.

For Pete's sake, Sarah has had a 14-year-old son! Donna… she had saved the universe, but at a costly price. Rose… She's happy with the other me, most likely. It was a bit creepy thinking that I had a semi-carbon copy of myself. She can…She can have some babies, and get married. Automatically, I squirm uncomfortably from the thought, but start to wonder the what, and ifs of the Other Me. Possibly, one of the babies will turn out like Jenny. Another pang is taken to my hearts, and I shake my head again.

The TARDIS hums a strange, solemn noise. And for some reason, it leaves me in lower spirits.

I pause pressing the buttons for a moment, and the TARDIS stops shaking and humming all together.

I sit on the chair.

I was lonely.

No matter how many times I get told. Or try to convince myself.

I am lonely.

There was no Forever for me. No Forever for any companions.

No matter how many times they promise and assure me that there will be, there isn't.

I'm always left alone in the end.


	2. Goodbye Again

_**Chapter 2: Goodbye. Again.**_

A whoosh.

Then a slight breeze.

They were the only indicators that a blue box had been standing on the beach in front of me, other than the imprint it left behind on the sand. Contradicting it now though, I realize sadly, it's being blown away by the wind, leaving the top layer bare, like a canvas never even touched.

Tears didn't escape my eyes like I expected to.

No.

It was quite the opposite. My face was dry and enclosed by a warm, welcoming chest, with a calm, single heartbeat ringing in my ears. It would be unfair for me to cry. Tears were sign of trader. I couldn't show them… in front of him. I simply just wasn't allowed to. I couldn't. I wouldn't. I…I… I hug him tighter, fighting the saltiness from running down my face. And after a few moments of pure, solemn silence, I decide to push away. Noticing, although I am comfortable, that it was slightly awkward hugging him. He obliges, and opens his arms. His eyes following, as I stumble a few steps backwards.

"…" My mouth opens, fully prepared for words, but I shut it as soon as it was open. My words would only possibly hurt him. It was about the other man in the blue box. The man who'd left without saying goodbye. That man. Him. Or… The other Him. The…Alien him.

I shake my head, confused about my own thoughts and result in saying, albeit in a lame tone, "Let's go," And my hand lifts, cajoling him to take it.

He does.

Tugging him along, my fingers entangled with his, I realize glumly that his heart would forever be a steady metronome, unlike the offbeat samba I'd grown to love. Once again, I shake my head to clear my thoughts. It simply wouldn't be fair if I'd thought this way.

But…After walking down the beach quietly, for what seemed to be long, dragged minutes, it's only the silence I can answer to. I'm lonely left alone to my thoughts.

Hurdles. I have to jump through fire hurdles to get used to new things about this Doctor. There might be changes in him. A lot of them. I try to counter-react that thought with … He looks exactly like the Doctor. Well…duh.. He was practically the Doctor. He is The Doctor. Human. He is the Human Doctor. Oh God. He's Human! '

A raggedy breath leaves me, and I shiver. Although, not from the chilly, and slightly salty, sea breeze.

"Ha!" The sudden cry cuts right through the silence, and I jump 10 meters into the air. Honestly, I hadn't expected any talk from the Doctor.

My eyes widen, as if to say _'What's wrong with this Madman?'_ and I manage to stutter out.

"Do….Doctor?"

"Hmm?" He hums as response, but broadens his answer, "Well. This wind. You don't get much of that in London… I think." To prove his point, he takes a large swig of the air, and smiles. "Yup. You don't get that in London." An amused snort falls out of my nose, and I almost forget my thoughts. But my emotions do a 180, and apathetically realize. Yeah… This is the Doctor. Just. Not. My Doctor.'

We're still walking hand-in-hand on the beach, but an empty feeling crawls inside my stomach. I'm not even that sure, but…I…something was strange. I blink. Something was missing.

"Oi… Uhh…. Rose. You're crying."

'Oi?' I wonder.

After a few seconds though, it hits me.

'Crying?'

And as if to check for proof, my hands wiggle away from his and reach my cheeks. Definitely, there was a wetness located on my cheek, but I really didn't feel like I was crying.

There was no point.

Why was I crying?

Answers pop into my head, but none were enough to make me cry.

I'm not particularly sad. It's just… an empty feeling. A blankness. A white wall blocks any other further thoughts, and my eyebrows furrow deeply.

"I…I don't know."

I respond to him.

He takes in a large breath again. This time, it's a serious breath. Like he's preparing for a speech. Which, until after he talks, I notice that he actually did… Sort of give a speech. I'd listened to it, but the blankness in the mind distracted me more.

Instead of:

"_Rose… I…I know you'll miss the Doctor. Well… the other Doctor. The Doctor with the TARDIS. Or… the… Oh nevermind that. Just, The Doctor.…. Anyways. I know you'll miss him. You miss him even now. But…Isn't it enough to have me? I am… the Doctor. I do have 907 years worth of memories. I do have all the memories of…of….lov…. " At this, he stutters, and pauses. "Basically, what I am trying to get at is, I'm human, you're human. Heck. Let's grow old together. Grow old. It's the adventure the other Doctor can't have. It's the adventure we can share together."_

What I had actually heard was:

"Rose… Miss the doctor….TARDIS…nevermi…miss him…human…together…adventure."

It all had blurred to me. My eyebrows still were furrowed, and the Doctor, along with the beach landscape had all been nothing to me.

There was something. Something that sent constant invisible chills through my head, that I was…supposed to know. Or something that I knew. 'What though?' Was the question.

The white wall greeted me again.

"…Rose?"

Blinking, I look at him, but I don't really see him. The more I thought about the question, the faster it seemed that my mind was moving slower.

My vision starts to brighten.

"Rose." The tone changes from questioning to slight worry. I wonder…How I'd looked right then?

'Probably like a dufus!' I'd answered my own question, and laughed.

And laughed some more.

The more I laughed, the brighter the light in my vision went.

Finally, ('It's even brighter!' I'd thought) Just as the answer comes to me, the brightness consumes me (which strangely, I'd comically noticed that it wasn't bright, just really dark) and all thoughts escaped me. I'm not quite sure what happened after, for I'd awoken a few days later.

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><p><strong>Ok. It's <em>that <em>time for the story...  
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**Ohh... Didn't think you'd have guessed it, but yeah. You guessed it right!  
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**It's time for an Author's Note.  
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***clears throat* Drum rolls, please.  
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**. . .  
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**...Please Rate and Review.  
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***curtain closes*  
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**Hope you liked that show.  
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**G'night Ladies and Gentlemen.  
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**Ta ta. Farewell for now, until the next chapter/update. ^-^  
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